PFAS not just a La Crosse problem, as national interest group proposes road map for dealing with “forever” chemicals in water supply

Whoever wins the next presidential election will be urged to take action against PFAS “forever chemicals” pollution.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) proposed a road map of actions that federal government can take to limit pollution and clean up in water supplies, such as on La Crosse’s French Island.

During a nationwide online conference Thursday, Melanie Benesh with the EWG said more action should be taken against polluters.

“We also need to do much more to hold these polluters accountable for the harms that they have caused,” Benesh said, “including increased enforcement when polluters break the law, and also greater access to justice” for the causing harm to communities.

Firefighting foam used for years at the La Crosse Regional Airport has been blamed for widespread PFAS contamination on French Island wells, forcing many families there to rely on bottled water for four years now.

Another EWG representative, Scott Faber, said companies which produced PFAS chemicals have been slow to respond to the problem, which he calls “disgusting.”

“They’ve made tens of billions of dollars knowingly poisoning literally every creature on the planet,” Faber said, “and instead of standing with all of us to say, ‘It’s time to have a drinking water standard, it’s time to properly dispose of PFAS wastes, it’s time to end needless uses of PFAS,’ they’re fighting to maintain the status quo.”

The group calls on Congress and federal agencies to take urgent steps to halt PFAS pollution and clean up the contamination.